Job Enrichment vs Job Enlargement Explained

19 of October, 2022

Job enrichment and job enlargement are two similar terminologies that are sometimes used interchangeably in the business world. While both are similar though, they are not the same. In this article, we would be explaining what both of these terminologies mean in the world of business and the difference between them.

What is Job Enrichment?

Job enrichment is an aspect of job design concerned with enhancing a job to make it more meaningful and rewarding. It is a process that expands the scope and the range of tasks performed on a job.

The goal here is to improve how an employee experiences a job by adding elements to it that make it more interesting to handle. Essentially, what you are doing here is transforming a “boring” job into something more enjoyable and fulfilling for employees so they can have a better time handling the job. This by extension would improve the productivity of the employee, and as such, the productivity of the business as a whole.

Benefits of Job Enrichment

Enriching jobs for employees provides a slew of benefits both for them and for the business in general. Some of these benefits include:

• Increased employee motivation to work thereby making them more productive.
• Exposing employees to more responsibilities and areas of expertise, thereby increasing their competence and empowering them with new skills.
• Reduced the cases of job dissatisfaction and increases employee fulfillment.
• Eliminates monotony.
• Improved employee confidence and encourages them to handle more tasks.
• Takes away express stress from superiors.

What is Job Enlargement?

Job enlargement, on the other hand, is the process of increasing the number of tasks or responsibilities which a job entails. It is the inclusion of additional duties to the overall scope of a job.

The inclusions here are purely quantitative, not qualitative. New tasks and responsibilities added to the scope of the job would exist at the same level. No additional expertise is required to get them done. It is a job design strategy employed to combat monotony and boredom in jobs.

Differences between Job Enrichment and Job Enlargement

Despite the similarities between job enrichment and job enlargement, the two are not the same. Below are some of the major differences.

Job Enlargement is Purely Quantitative, Job Enrichment is Not

Job enlargement is a purely quantitative approach to job redesign. While job enrichment functions by affecting both the quantity and quality of tasks performed on the job, job enlargement are purely concerned with quantitatively improving the scope of the job.

Job Enlargement Fixes Boredom, Job Enrichment Does More 

Job enlargement is a strategy that handles boredom by giving employees more tasks to handle. While job enrichment also combats boredom, it achieves more than just that. Instead, it is more of an empowerment tool that raises the competence and fulfillment of employees.

Job Enlargement Doesn’t Require Additional Skills. Job Enrichment Does

Although job enlargement basically provides employees with more work to do, these new duties are duties that exist within the employee’s current skill set. As such, the employee requires no additional skill. Job enrichment, on the other hand, often includes new duties and responsibilities the employee is unfamiliar with and therefore can gain additional experience.

Conclusion

The differences between job enrichment and job enlargement are motivational tools that can be used by management to improve employee satisfaction and increase productivity. These two job design strategies, while similar, have significant differences that affect the result of the employees and the job as a whole.

Choosing the right tool would help you make the best of your job design strategy. Want to find out which of these two is the best for your company to implement? Our HR Software can help you measure the satisfaction of your employees and provide real-time data that would help you make an informed decision.

Cristina Martin

People and Talent Director | LinkedIn | | Web | +post

Professional with over 20 years of extensive experience in various areas of Human Resources (Recruitment, Training, Occupational Risk Prevention, and Personnel Management). Experience in the Management Department: Broad understanding of the company and HR.

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